


A Sailor's Remedy

by kristsune



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Pre-Slash, but still can't get a sentence out to save his life, oscar is not having a good night, zolf's bedside manner has gotten much better in the time he had been away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:34:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22867192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristsune/pseuds/kristsune
Summary: Oscar's night terrors have a tendency of coming back when he least expects them to. This time, he has someone to help him through it.
Relationships: Zolf Smith/Oscar Wilde
Comments: 14
Kudos: 70





	A Sailor's Remedy

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say, except I'm a sucker for this trope, and it fits them just so perfectly. 
> 
> Huge shout out to [ El ](https://howshouldiknowboutlife.tumblr.com/) who not only came up with the title, but rewrote Pump Shanty so it still works in universe, which is bloody amazing. The whole thing will be in the end notes if anyone wants to see it.
> 
> Feel free to stop by and say hi over on [tumblr!](https://kristsune.tumblr.com/)

Oscar gasped, bolting upright. He was covered in sweat, and couldn’t catch his breath. The nightmare was fading fast, horrifying images disappearing as every second passed, but the feeling they left behind, was intense and lingering. 

He startled badly when the door to his room banged open and Zolf charged in with his glaive ablaze. “Wilde?! Are you okay? I heard screaming.”

Oscar attempted to reply, to reassure Zolf, but his voice only came out as a raw croak. Ah. Well then. That explained that. He cleared his throat, and tried again, with at least some success. His voice was still rough, but understandable, “I’m fine. I apologize for disturbing you. It’s nothing.” 

Zolf extinguished the glaive and turned to him. At least Zolf hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at him, he probably looked a right mess.

“Have you been crying?” 

Ahh, yes. Dark vision. Oscar lifted his hand to his cheek, which came away wet. He really must have been having a bad night. Oscar was only slightly surprised at how Zolf actually sounded genuinely concerned. 

Oscar didn’t see any point in lying at this stage, “It certainly seems that way.” 

Zolf scoffed and walked over to Oscar’s side table and poured two glasses, before walking back to him handing him one of them. Oscar took the glass, hoping Zolf hadn’t noticed how bad his hand was shaking. He took a sip and frowned, “Could use something a bit stronger than this.”

“Yeah, I figured. That’s why I poured two glasses; you sound like shit. Drink the water, then you can have the brandy.” 

Oscar raised the glass in thanks rather than trying to continue the conversation, because Zolf was not wrong. It wasn’t the worst damage he’d ever done to his voice, but it had been quite some time since he managed to scream himself hoarse. 

“Look. You - I know you’ve been through a lot, and you don’t have to talk about it. But -” Zolf sighed, as he sat next to Oscar. “But if it would help, you can talk to me.”

Zolf switched the brandy glass for the empty water one as he finished, Oscar gratefully took a drink, feeling it settle heavily in his stomach. Good thing he didn’t just neck the entire glass, that probably would have ended up … messy. He placed the glass down instead of trying to drink more.

Oscar honestly felt _terrible_ ; both physically and mentally. He hadn’t been able to talk to anyone since… probably Grizzop. He felt his heart lurch at the thought of the small, fierce goblin. He ran his hand down his face, and winced as it passed over the scar. It had been healed, but it still hurt, in more ways than one. 

But Grizzop was gone, _dead_ , he was sure of it, and he had been for months. Zolf was here. They had been slowly getting closer, the longer they worked together. But what it really came down to, was that Oscar _trusted_ Zolf, more than anyone else alive. 

“Remember when I briefed you when we first started, and mentioned being cursed so I couldn’t sleep? Well, the reason I couldn’t sleep was due to magically induced night terrors. When wearing anti-magic cuffs, they stopped all together, which I was forced to do until I could break the curse. After that I could get rid of the cuffs, but the nightmares will still occasionally come back... as was readily apparent this evening.” Oscar felt a shiver pass through him, the dread and horror from the nightmare still clinging to him like oil. 

Zolf carefully wrapped an arm around Oscar’s back, and before he could think twice about it, he leaned against Zolf’s side, solid and real. With the way Oscar was slumped over, he wasn’t all that much taller. 

“I don’t even remember the dreams after I wake. Not really.” Zolf started to gently rub his back as he continued to talk, “Just violence, pain, failure, and betrayal. Over, and over, and over again.” Oscar paused as his voice cracked, obviously still wrecked from it’s earlier... exercise, when he realized he was crying again; silent tears soaking into Zolf’s nightshirt. 

Which was when Oscar realized that he was no longer breathing properly, sucking in big gulps of air. Like finally talking about his dreams, pulled the keystone out of a building, sending everything tumbling down, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it, now that it had started. 

Zolf wrapped his arm tighter around him and gently pulled him back so they were both mostly laying down. That seemed a clear invitation to Oscar, (not that he thought he could have stopped himself at that point anyway) and he curled against Zolf, hand fisted in his shirt, quietly sobbing his heart out.

Zolf was quiet for some time, continuing to hold him and rubbing soothing circles over his back. But after it was obvious that this was not likely to stop soon, Zolf did something Oscar had not expected; he started to sing softly. 

"Pump me boys, let her swim  
Down to hell and back again  
Bend your backs and break your bones  
We're just a million miles from home."

Zolf switched back and forth between singing and humming, of what sounded like a sea shanty from his seafaring days. He had a better singing voice than Oscar had expected, and the vibration in his chest when he hummed soothed him in a way he couldn’t accurately express. 

“The mem'ry of my lover sweet  
It fires the heart it sets the beat  
Whatever time wherever meet  
I'll find him through the ocean deep.”

Oscar found himself focusing on the melody and lyrics, and slowly, his breathing came back under control, tears still flowing, but not as urgent, or desperate for release. Oscar wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he was starting to feel guilty about keeping Zolf from his own bed, so he started to move away. Zolf briefly tightened his arm, not restraining him, just enough to make Oscar think twice about moving, “You don’t need to move… if you don’t want to. I - I’m fine with staying here the rest of the night, if you would prefer it. I, I don’t know if you can sleep after something like that, but… I’m here, if you need.”

Oscar relaxed again as relief flowed through him, he usually just dove into work after the nightmares, the prospect of sleep again was usually too much to bear. But with his head tucked in the crook of Zolf’s shoulder, and resting the flat of his palm on Zolf’s chest, he felt more comforted than he had in a very long time. “Thank you, Zolf. That would be… much appreciated.” 

Zolf brought his other hand up to rest on top of Oscar’s, “Of course, Oscar. Gotta be here for each other, yeah?” 

Oscar thought, not for the last time, as Zolf’s warm presence next to him chased away the last vestiges of the nightmares, that he was very glad he had Zolf back in his life. “Yes. Yes, we do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Some man i knew of wizened fame  
> Said life at heart is all a game  
> But he knew not these drowning days  
> So pump me boys - fight through the pain
> 
> [CHORUS] Pump me boys, let her swim  
> Down to hell and back again  
> Bend your backs and break your bones  
> We're just a million miles from home
> 
> The mem'ry of my lover sweet  
> It fires the heart it sets the beat  
> Whatever time wherever meet  
> Ill find him through the ocean deep
> 
> [CHORUS]
> 
> (Verses 3 and 4 seemed fine so i left them as is)
> 
> [CHORUS] 
> 
> The salty water burns your lungs  
> The rain is thick, your eyes are stung  
> Long to be dry but theres no sun  
> This pumping business aint much fun.
> 
> [CHORUS]
> 
> The outer hull is shot to hell  
> Waters rise, no breath to yell  
> My joints and muscles ache and swell  
> So fuck the Sea and you as well!
> 
> [CHORUS]
> 
> A sailing mission gone awry  
> Attacked by Navy and the sky  
> Is no excuse boys let us cry:  
> "Today is not the day we die!"
> 
> [CHORUS] Pump me boys, let her swim  
> Down to hell and back again  
> Bend your backs and break your bones  
> We're just a million miles from home (x2)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Sailor's Remedy [podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23810416) by [KD reads (KDHeart)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KDHeart/pseuds/KD%20reads)




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